But I'm Not a Mother
But I'm Not a Mother is a fanfic written by Pookieluv, so please do not edit without her permission! Harry I knew that Harry was the one I was supposed to marry from the second we met in late summer 2005. He was perfect - a perfect tan, shaggy blonde hair, shiny white teeth. We spent those last remaining days of summer on the beach from sunup to sundown, doing whatever our hearts desired, until our mothers called us in for dinner. I know what you're thinking - that me and Harry got married, and lived happily ever after in Penguin Tropicals. No. That's not what happened at all. I'll tell you what happened - Harry disappeared. His whole family disappeared. I woke up that day and they were gone. Their house was emptied. It was like they never existed. I was crushed. Why hadn't Harry told me that he was leaving? But I moved on with life, and eventually I graduated high school and moved to Club Penguin Island. I was taking online college classes and working part-time as a freelance writer, living in my tiny little apartment. I never found out what happened to Harry. He never answered my calls, and I couldn't find him on any of the social media sites. Finally I gave up. If me and Harry were meant to be, then he would find me. Clearly, we were not meant to be. In a Little Basket... It was a typical Tuesday. I had just woken up, and I was about to leave to get my daily cup of coffee. Swinging my car keys in my hands, I opened the front door to my apartment. It's lucky that I was looking at the floor, or else I might have tripped on it. It was a tiny woven basket. Confused, I reached down to grab it. I almost screamed when I saw what was inside. It was a pookie. I couldn't even tell what gender it was, due to the yellow, fluffy blanket covering everything except their face. I spotted a piece of paper next to the pookie, which must have been a note. I stood back up, looking down the hallway to make sure no one was watching me. I could have just taken the basket and walked down the hall, leaving it in front of another door. But I was drawn to the pookie. Maren, what are you saying? You can't raise a pookie. You don't even have a real job. Or a husband! Just leave it there, someone else will find it. But I couldn't. I quickly picked up the basket and brought it inside. The Baby It was a girl. She was really quite beautiful. Her skin was the perfect shade of yellow, and fuzzy blonde hair covered her head. I guessed she was about 3 months old. She stared up at me expectantly. I stared down at her. I wrapped the little girl in her blanket and laid her on the kitchen counter. She wiggled around a little, but eventually settled down. What now? I grabbed my cell off of the couch and dialed my fathers phone number. He didn't answer. No surprises there. My dad hates technology; he barely knows how to send a text message. Instead, I called my mom. She answered after the first ring. "Yes?" "Mom? I need your help." I shifted onto my other foot and glanced over at the pookie, to make sure she hadn't rolled over. "Yes?" "Okay, so, um... well..." Quickly I told her the story of the basket. "I don't know what to do now. Should I report her? Send her to an adoption agency? I don't think it's legal for me to just keep her..." "Well, was there a note or anything? Just a pookie?" I suddenly remembered the note. "Yes! Yes there was. Hold on." I sat down the phone and ran back to the basket, digging to find the note. I picked it up and un-crumpled it. I have been watching you every day. I know that you are capable of watching my little girl. Do not give her up like I did. Do not leave her on a doorstep like I did. Care for her with your life. I cannot do it. But you can. I stare at the note. They've been... watching me? I wipe a tear and pick up the phone again. "It's okay Mom. I think... I'm going to keep her." "Sweetheart, that's against the law. You need to report her, or give her up for adoption. You don't want to get tangled in the law, trust me, I know." I look at the pookie. Then the note. "I need to keep her, Mom. You don't understand." There's a long silence on the other end. "I do understand, sweetheart. Just do what you think is right. If you think you are supposed to watch this pookie, then you must." Baby's First Trip I didn't leave my apartment for three days after that. What would my neighbors think of me? Surely they would ask me where I got the pookie. And then what would I say? By the third day, however, I was running out of food, and the girls clothing were getting dirty. I decided to carry her in the basket, and hopefully my neighbors wouldn't see. I got to the lobby without any trouble, and somehow I managed to get past the doorman without any suspiciousness. It wasn't until I got to my car that I realized I didn't have a proper car seat for the little girl, so I just held the basket tightly in one hand and I drove with the other hand. At the grocery store, I picked up things for dinner, and then I got a couple containers of Macy's Mush. I also got some bottle milk, since I wasn't really comfortable with doing it the 'other way'. After that, I made a run to the baby store, where I got a carseat, and a couple new outfits. I also got some diapers and wipes. Hoping that I wasn't forgetting anything, I checked out and went back to the car to drive home. Hidden "I don't know what to do, Mom." I was talking to my mother on the phone, holding a crying baby, and cleaning the kitchen all at once. "My neighbors are going to find out eventually. They can probably hear her crying right now. What if they ask? What do I say?" "Just say you decided to adopt a pookie." I sighed. "But my neighbors know me. They know that I would never adopt a pookie. I'm not even married, Mom. I don't even have a job. I would never just decide to adopt a pookie." "You just did." "It's not the same thing! Ugh." I threw my towel on the counter and gave the baby her binky. "Are you sure that you don't want to just give her to the adoption agency? Isn't there an orphanage near you? Just take her there! You can drop her off and forget all about this." I rolled my eyes. "Mom, I can't just do that." "Do you even have a name for her yet?" "Yes!" I said defensively. "Which is...?" I hesitated. "Well, I have a couple ideas. Just give me a little bit of time." "Tuh. Good luck sweetheart." I could sense a hint of sarcasm in her voice. I hung up the phone. I carried the baby over to the couch and started to rock her. She stopped crying instantly. "You just needed a little attention, didn't you?" She giggled. I smile. "Didn't you?" She giggled more. Suddenly I remembered. "Oh no..." I set the baby on the couch and ran to my laptop, flipping it open. "Oh no, oh no..." I had missed a writing deadline. With all of the baby trouble, I had completely forgotten about a temporary job I had with a magazine. I buried my face in my flippers. No more job. "Eh bleh?" The baby looked over at me, her big blue eyes sparkling. "Geh?" I smiled at her. I was just about to go pick her up, when there was a knock at the door. My eyes widened.. "Crap, crap, crap, crap..." I scooped up the pookie and ran to my bedroom, placing her on the bed. "You need to be quiet, okay? Just for a little while!" The door knocked again. "I'm coming!" I shouted. "Stay here," I whispered to the little girl. Out of breath, I opened the door. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw it was just my neighbor, Reese. "Hey Reese." "Hello, Maren," she said formally. "On behalf of the apartment watch committee, we are going around giving each of the tenants a short survey in order to promote neighborhood awareness. Could we ask you a few questions?" I hesitated. "Uh, yeah. Okay." Reese was the leader of the apartment watch, which is basically a bunch of random people who get together and talk about how to make the apartment building better. "Question one. Who are you?" "Maren Silver," I roll my eyes. "Next question." "How old are you?" "Twenty-six." "How many people are currently living in your apartment building." My heart jumped, but I calmed myself down. Just pretend the baby doesn't exist. "One." "How many times a week do you -" She stopped "What" Her eyes narrowed. "Nothing. I just thought I heard something." My heart was beating faster than ever. Was it the baby? Did she hear the baby? "How many times a week do you leave your apartment building?" We finished the survey, and miraculously without a peep from the baby. I said goodnight, and she left. I went to go get the baby. "That was a close call," I said to her. "She almost heard you. We need to be more careful." She looked up at me innocently. "You're right. Why am I talking to you? You can't understand me." I laughed to myself. "You're just a pookie. My perfect little pookie." A Rose by Any Other Name "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." ~William Shakespear''e The birds were chirping, the snow was twinkling, and everything was peaceful. Well, almost everything. "WeeeeeeeEEEEAAAAAAAHHHH! AHHHH!" "Sweetie, no! You have to be quiet!" It was absolute chaos. I suddenly understood why my mother only decided to have one child. I would have never been able to do that a second time. "Eh, eh, weaAAAH!" "What is it? I already fed you! Are you sleepy? Do you need a dippy change?" "EAAAH!" "PRISCILLA!" She suddenly stopped crying. There was complete silence. "Priscilla?" Why had I yelled out the name Priscilla? I still don't know. I was angry, frustrated, and annoyed. I was trying to calm the baby down. And the first thing that came out of my mouth was Priscilla. When I had said Priscilla, she had stopped crying. Was it possible that Priscilla had been her name before? Or was it just a coincidence that she stopped screaming when I said that? Her name become Priscilla Nicole Silver. That day, and every day after that, whenever she was crying, I just said the name "Priscilla", and she immediately stopped. It was like magic! Maybe it was magic. Wanted: One Babysitter "You've got the job." What? I stared at my computer screen, making sure I had read the email correctly. But there is was, in plain sight - "You've got the job." I couldn't decide if I should be happy or not. One month earlier, I would have been jumping for joy. But things had changed. I was a mother. I couldn't have a job. Or... could I? Maybe if I hid Priscilla in the basket, and snuck her into work with me... After all, I did need money. But... I turned to look at Priscilla, and my heart melted. I loved Priscilla. Priscilla deserved to be loved and played with and cuddled with. She didn't deserve to be stuck in a basket all day. My hand hovered over the 'reply' button. I definitely needed a real job. But I was hoping that I could have some sort of work-at-home job, where I could care for Priscilla while I worked. This job offering was different. Finally I came up with a decision. I would take the job, and hire a babysitter. That would be the only way it would work. I needed a job, and Priscilla needed to be taken care of. A babysitter was the only option. I put an ad in Bai Bai Today. No response. I was starting to panic. My new job started in just a few weeks; what if I didn't find a good babysitter? Then, after days of stress, I finally found her. She was perfect. She was a college student taking online classes, just like I had once been. We were like twins. I could see myself in her. Her name was Katelynn. Despite her hipster glasses and boho sense of style, I knew she would care for Priscilla with her life. I trusted Katelynn with my child more than anyone else in all of Club Penguin District. I could see it in her eyes. She was the one. First Goodbye "She's gonna be hungry for her bottle every few hours," I told Katelynn as I picked up my purse. "The bottle is right over there, and if she drinks it all, the baby milk is in the fridge. If she's still hungry after a bottle, then you can give her some mush mush from the cabinet. Her favorite is carrot, but if we don't have any of that, then she also likes banana. She's probably going to be sleepy in about an hour, so just swaddle her up and rock her until - " "Maren," Katelynn cut me off. "Don't worry about it. I got this." I smiled nervously. "Okay. Here's my cell number just in case anything goes wrong. I'll see you later tonight. Bye Priscilla." I felt a sort of emptiness as I drove to work. This was my first time away from Priscilla ever since I discovered her. What if Katelynn was some kind of murderer? OR, what if somebody murdered Katelynn? ''What are you doing, Maren, I said to myself. Priscilla and Katelynn will be fine. And with that, I turned onto the highway and drove into the sunrise. Office Mom "This will be your cubicle." I followed the secretary, Trish, as she showed me around the office. "You'll be working here most of the time," she said, pushing up her glasses. "You'll see your to-do list and your deadlines pinned up on the wall there. And the cafeteria is down on the first level." "Oh," I said, trying to make small talk. "Thanks. What time is lunch?" She rolled her eyes. "You've never had a real job, have you?" I stood a little shorter. "Um, no. Well, um, bye." Trish left, and I walked into my cubicle. It was barely large enough for me to turn around in. How was I going to get any work done in there? I sat down in the swivel chair and spun around a few times. Just like when I was a kid. I spun faster and faster and faster until - "Hey!" barked a voice. I screeched to a stop, my vision spinning. "You there! What have you done so far today?" Shaking, I turned to face the voice. "I - I just got here." "Well get to work!" He stomped off. I shuddered, hoping that the person I had just spoken with wasn't my supervisor. Quickly I looked at my to-do list on the wall. I did as much as I could, but I could barely get any work done. So many worries were going through my head. Oh no... I can't get fired on the first day. What will Katelynn think of me? I hope Katelynn's okay. I hope Priscilla's okay! I wonder why they haven't called yet... maybe Katelynn is dead and that's why she hasn't called yet! Oh no... I read over what I had written so far: "There are three primary groups that may benefit from this study. The first group, consisting of Maren, you're fired employees in today's business organizations, Priscilla may learn to identify ways that stress negatively affects their work performance. Identifying the negative effects Katelynn may enable them to take necessary action to cope with stress. By sharing this you are fired ''knowledge, employees can act as a vehicle to help management implement appropriate stress reduction program." I groaned. It was no use. Around 12:30, I saw some of the workers around me standing up and leaving the room, entering the elevator. ''It must be lunch time, ''I said to myself. I quickly saved my document as 'stress study thingy' and exited the window. I saw the elevator door about to close. "Hold the elevator please!" I yelled to the people inside. They looked confused, but they did as I said. I ran to the elevator. "Thank you," I said out of breath. One of them raised an eyebrow. The others averted their gaze. I looked down at my new pumps. Having an actual job was a lot harder than I thought it would be. When we got down to the lobby, I followed the other workers into the cafeteria. There were about 10 other people in there already, sitting around two rectangle-shaped tables. I sat down in an empty seat. Nobody chose to sit next to me. I opened my purse and I started to take out my sack lunch when I heard a voice talking to me. "Your order?" I looked up. A tall, blonde woman looked down at me. She was wearing a black and white suit. "Uh, what?" I asked, smoothing my skirt. "Your order." I stared at her blankly. "I'm sorry. I'm new here, I -" "Well why didn't you just say that in the first place?" she said exasperatedly. "Every day we order take-out from a restaurant. Today we're eating Golden Dynasty. So I'll say it again - what's your order?" "But who pays for it?" She rolled her eyes. "It's already been taken directly out of your paycheck, you don't need to worry about it honey. What is your ''order?" "Oh, um..." I thought for a second. "I'll have an egg roll. And some lo mein" Golden Dynasty was one of the most popular Chinese restaurants in the district. Everyone loved Golden Dynasty - even me, and I didn't even like Chinese food. My co-workers all made small talk as I awkwardly looked at the table, my stomach rumbling. I considered taking my sack lunch out of my purse and eating my peanut butter sandwich, but what would my coworkers think of me? Sighing, I rested my head down on the table. Having a job was hard. TO BE CONTINUEDCategory:Fanfictions Category:Pookieluvs Stuff